Villain Retirement

"...Riri!? Riri, where are you!?"

"Present."

"W—Where'd you even pop out from!?"

Darkness. The darkness was so great that the only thing clear was the silhouettes — silhouettes that moved and soon recognized each other.

"I was here the entire time, Miss Pepondosovich."

Riley and Miss Pepondosovich were the first to see each other, but Esme came soon and stood beside them while looking around the empty darkness, only for the three of them to realize that all of them were actually there…

…even the Primordials.

"This place is outside Creation," Elementia tried doing the same thing he did in the Domain of the Gods; dig his hand through the ground — as there is a ground, but the darkness that surrounded them just overwhelmed it. It was like glass, slippery; wet, yet completely solid,

"I assume we are traveling to the past?" Elementia then turned to look at Aerith'Ross, who was just quietly standing there with her arms crossed; talking to Jennifer in whispers and only giving Elementia a glance, "The first encounter we had with traveling across time is with her — does that mean the themarians have the ability to travel through time?"

"No, and yes."

"Jen."

"There's no point in hiding this info, Aerith," Jennifer removed Aerith's hand as she approached Elementia, making Riley and the others gather around her, "Themarians do have an ability to travel through the past — but there needs to be a certain condition that must be met, a condition completely relying on a random circumstance."

"A random circumstance?" Elementia blinked a couple of times before turning his focus to Miss Pepondosovich, "It relies on luck."

"Oh, wow. Yes," Jennifer could not help but let out a small gasp as she also glanced at Miss Pepondosovich, "That also means we can't control it — right now, we are not traveling through the past."

"We are traveling to the future then?" Elementia squinted his eyes before glancing at Death.

"No," Jennifer quickly shook her head before letting out a quiet chuckle, "We're not technically traveling to the future."

"But you—"

"Tut-tut," Jennifer wagged her finger in front of a primordial and shushed him, "What we are right now, my friend — is stuck. We are stuck outside the waves of… time, I suppose you can say that? Time is moving without us? Gah, Aerith, help me out here!"

Aerith'Ross, however, completely ignored her and just looked away.

"Does that mean we are not traveling to your universe?" Elementia closed his eyes and sighed, "A shame, I was looking forward to that."

"I… don't know," Jennifer then turned to look at Riley as her voice slightly became meek, "I didn't really care for the Old Universe since all of you are relics of a time before and have absolutely no relevance."

"Thank you," Elementia looked at Jennifer from head to toe, "That was sarcasm, by the way — I learned it just now. But we are getting sidetracked, please — continue.

"Riley is here. The New Universe can not be created with him here," Jennifer was still focusing on Riley, "I do not know what that means. If this had to happen, or if this is a completely different story altogether — but the fact that Aerith and I are here means that the New Universe still exists. But then again, the laws of the Old Universe do not apply to us and… Ack, my brain hurts. Anyway, it doesn't matter to me anyway, this is not my universe. It should, however, matter to all of you, because most importantly—"

"We are here," Death, who had just been observing the entire time, finally joined the conversation with a very long and deep sigh, "Elementia and I have never been absent before."

"Yup," Jennifer winced as she looked at Death and Elementia, "Anyway, we won't know how many years would have passed once we're out here. It might just be a 1:1 ratio, or maybe a hundred years have already passed outside, or maybe a thousand — or maybe no time at all."

"Even if we are only gone for a millisecond," Death closed her eyes, "Everything would be affected, everything would change. We are not just beings, we are the laws of Creation itself."

"A faulty system," Jennifer shrugged before smiling, "No wonder you got forcefully replaced by the New Universe. My universe will function perfectly even without anyone there. And—"

"Well… does it really matter?" Miss Pepondosovich raised her hand to join the conversation, "A year, a hundred years, a thousand years, a million — we would have just been stuck in the Domain of the Gods, nothing really changes for beings like us. Well… oh no…"

Miss Pepondosovich then turned to look at Riley, who just had his head down and his eyes closed. Unlike the rest of them, Riley was the only one who was still actually living in a mortal's clock — he still had people outside, people whom he would never get to see again if more than a hundred years had passed.

His sister.

"Riri…" Miss Pepondosovich was about to grab Riley's hand, but Elementia once again opened his mouth.

"We will not be in the Domain of the Gods once we return," Elementia said as he shook his head, "Domain of the Gods only exists because I am there — without me, it will crumble and disappear."

"Wait…" Miss Pepondosovich blinked a couple of times, "...Are you saying the people—Marleen and the others are gone?"

"No," Elementia shook his head, "Living beings are out of my jurisdiction."

"What is your jurisdiction?" Jennifer squinted her eyes, "Like the elements?"

"Amongst other things, yes."

"Wait, wait…" Not only Jennifer, but even Aerith'Ross, who had been trying her best to look stoic, widened her eyes as she realized the implication in Elementia's words,

"...Are you saying all those god-like beings were freed?"

"Escaped, yes," Elementia nodded, "But I am sure the others are picking up my slack, Celestial and Machina in particular. The planets and celestial bodies would wither away without me, but Celestial could do something about it — the elements would be gone, but Machina can also do something with it with… whatever it is that guy actually does."

"If all of that changes without you…" Jennifer placed her hand on her chin before turning to Death,

"...Then what about her?"

"Well…" This time, it was Elementia whose eyes widened as he looked at Death, "I'm… I'm sure Celestial and Ruin can do something about your role. Right, Big Sis? Am I…

…right?"

***

Hundreds of years ago, the entire multiverse had reached something it had never experienced before — peace. Peace brought forth by a common enemy that would one day return to wreak havoc and bring about the darkest day, a being known as Riley Ross.

Hundreds of trillions of lives, living together in harmony. But then, in just the blink of a moment, everything changed.

The entire universe just suddenly… stopped. For a moment, for a very brief moment — there was darkness. It was said that most did not even realize it, as it felt as if they just blinked; but the records show that the universe truly did stop.

And they knew it, because after that one single blink of darkness — someone disappeared. It could have been a friend, a family, a loved one — they just disappeared. One moment, you were just talking to them and they were right in front of you, and then the next, they were gone.

More than half of life itself died.

Some thought it was the doing of Riley Ross, but it was not — because if it was, then none of them would have been left.

But those who were left behind did not have time to mourn, as beings of imaginable power descended from the heavens. Some of them, friendly…

…but most of them sought to rule.

And once again, the entire multiverse experienced war, the greatest and worst it has and would ever experience… as the multiverse no longer existed after the gods were done.

There was only a single one left.

And how, even after all this time, has this history not been forgotten?

That is because something else happened after the universe blinked — all life became ageless, immortal. And the only way to truly be whiffed out of existence is through a violent death. There was, however, a price for this immortality…

…Those who were young have eternally remained so. And Life…

…Life lost the ability to give birth.

And so life, once again, became precious. The gods, the handful that remained after the violent war, set forth orders that would ensure that no life would be lost anymore.

And thus, another era of peace was born. That is, until…

"Diana! Something… something is happening!"

"Aerith!? What… what's wrong!?"

"My stomach, something… I felt a kick. I felt it moving, I… I felt him moving."

"A… kick? But that's impossible, we're not—Could… could it be?"

"I don't care what's happening! Just check!"

"This… he's… he's growing. He's growing, Aerith!"

…Life moved again.

***

"Halt! State your names and show your IDs! You are in violation of Code 0-1, Using abilities of any kind that could lead to harm of your fellow men is strictly prohibited! You are also in violation of Code 1-4, Traveling through space without permission is strictly prohibited! State your names!"

"I'm guessing this wasn't here before, Riri?"

Somewhere in the expanse of space, three silhouettes covered in robes were currently floating aimlessly. And in front of them, was a being that looked like…

"I believe he is a Norinlad, Miss Pepondosovich," one of the robed individuals lowered his hood before turning to look at the silver humanoid in front of them, "My name…

…is Riley Ross."

"You…

…are not in the registry."

And death… will also soon move again.